Mar 25 & 28, 2008
This week, Comet Wirtanen passed by the Flaming Star Nebula, IC 410, and other nebulae and clusters in the neighborhood of AE Aurigae. Our only clear night looked to be Tuesday evening, Mar 25. Chris Kitting had proposed meeting at Swanton Road, but my busy schedule that day did not allow me to see his email, and so I at the last minute did actually go to Swanton Road, but didn't see his note and so did not notify Chris. Darn! But weather was perfect and I got off a nice sequence before moonrise at 10:44pm. My first time at Swanton Road, and I am grateful to Steve, the resource manager there, for happily allowing me to get these nice pix while I try and formalize an arrangement for future use.
Comet Wirtanen and IC 410. 10x5min stack w/ 8" f/4 LXD75 on GM8 mount, ST2000XCM at prime focus. C/Wirtanen is the greenish fuzzy streak right of the bright star at lower right. IC 410 emission nebula is to the top and upper left. Registax 4 was used to stack on 4 stars near the corners, leaving the comet to trail. |
Same set, but stacked manually on the comet (green ball near center), and severely cropped and 'level'ed. Not a whole lot of structure to be gotten from this comet, apparently. |
Mar 28: I made one more night under the stars to photograph Comet Wirtanen and the nebulae of Aurigae 3 days later. On Thursday Mar 28 I drove up to Locatelli Ranch at the end of Empire Grade. The light pollution is a little worse here compared to Swanton Road, and it's a longer drive, but I clearance to photograph from Swanton Road is still being discussed. The skies were clear, but seeing was poor and I had trouble getting the camera to remain square with the focal plane. And, there was wind as well. All of these issues made for larger stars, unfortunately. Also, the IC 417 and NGC 1931 nebulae were fainter than I thought (also called "the spider and the fly"). But the composition was perfect; the green comet between these blue and red reflection / emission nebulae.
Comet Wirtanen and IC 417 - NGC 1931. 13x5 min stack of exposures with the ST2000XCM / GM8 / 8" f/4 LXD75 scope, chip temperatures = -30C. Extensive re-level'ing and curve'ing in Photoshop CS2, along with Astronomy Tools 3x 'make stars smaller', 'space noise reduction', 'deep space noise reduction'. The green comet move towards the upper left during the hour and a half this exposure set took to make. |
